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The Most Important (and Overlooked) Element of Personality

21 Oct, 2014
By TTI Success Insights

Your core values, also known as your "motivators," are the single most important element of your personality to understand. They are also, arguably, the single most important element of job performance, yet they are frequently overlooked in the hiring process.

One document that explains this idea extremely well was released by Hudson back in 2010 called "Positioning for Growth" (using survey data involving 1,690 employees and 605 employers in Australia and New Zealand):

All 605 employers surveyed were asked their thoughts on the difference between an average and a high performer. Not a single employer cites ‘good references’, ‘years of experience’, ‘education/qualifications’ or ‘where they have worked before’, yet these are the measures that employers are most commonly using to bring new people into their businesses.

Employers repeatedly cite ‘exceeding targets’, ‘high motivation’, ‘getting the job done’, ‘going the extra mile’, ‘enthusiasm’ and ‘a desire for personal achievement and continuous improvement’ as the characteristic traits of high performers. These are all measured by the ‘want to’ category.

The top three hiring tools/measures used (most frequently) by Australia and New Zealand’s employers are: ‘reference checking’ used by 88%; ‘resume screening’ used by 76%; and ‘background interview’ used by 66% ... only 7% measure the 'want to' category.

Your core values (motivators) are important for four main reasons:

1. Core values shape your career path

2. Core values shape your job performance

3. Core values shape your relationships

4. Core values shape your overall happiness.

Basically, if you're not engaged — if you don't like your job — then you're not going to hang around for very long. The same applies to dating and marriage. People can get over basic behavioural differences (like being messy or disorganised or occasionally short tempered), but values are the things that will make or break a relationship.

And yet, very few people can articulate their own values or are aware that almost all values can be traced back to half a dozen primary "motivators."